NEW DEAL FOR DEAN

31 October 2012

Andrew Poole

Boss agrees contract extension...

WALSALL Football Club are delighted to announce that Team Manager, Dean Smith, has today pledged his future to the club by putting pen-to-paper on a new two and-a-half year deal that will take him through to the end of the 2014/15 season.

Since being appointed into the Banks’s Stadium hot-seat in January 2011, the former Saddlers’ skipper and youth team manager has overseen a steady and structured progression.

It is a long-term project, with the onus on the adoption and implementation of a ‘football philosophy’ that is centred around a fluid, passing style of play, hard work and the development of local, emerging talent.

“As a Board, we felt that it was important to move quickly and decisively to bring stability to the club and give those tasked with executing our philosophies the necessary security to enable them to effectively plan for the future,” said Chief Executive, Stefan Gamble. “Dean is an energetic, ambitious and talented young manager who has a real desire to succeed.

“He is well-liked by all at the club and well respected by his peers within the game. He knows the club inside-out and has a good understanding of what is required here and the financial parameters within which we have to work.

“The team has already earned much admiration for the way in which we are trying to play this season, whilst off-the-field we have a slick, professional and forward-thinking environment in which the players can learn and develop. This is testament to the hard work and dedication of Dean and his backroom staff.

“Dean can now begin to plan for the remainder of the campaign and beyond in the knowledge that he has the club’s full backing and the resources to be able to do this.”

Dean Smith added: “I am delighted that the club has offered me this new deal and I am only too pleased to pledge my future to Walsall FC.

“We have a strategy in place here and a policy running throughout the whole club that will allow us to move forward together and get to where we want to be. Having this deal allows me to continue to plan ahead and build.

“The foundations are the most important part of any building process and we have carefully put these in place during my time here.

“I’ve always said that it was going to be small steps; the players have done well so far this season, but as a group we know we can get better and we are always striving to improve.

“It is the aim of my staff and I to develop and educate footballers, both those that have come through our ranks and those that we have brought into the club, and be able to move our philosophy forward.”